Intermittant Problems with HP dv4000

Hi I have been using my dv4000 for a little over a year, then I started having intermittant problems. The problem is that when I press the power on button the light in the power button turns on and the disk access light turns on for about 5 seconds, but nothing else happens.

I called HP support and they had me run through their battery of tests, including pulling the battery out, pressing the on button, reseating the memory and hard drive. This did not help. They also had me run the bios memory tests with no errors noted. So on their instructions I sent it back.

I get the laptop back and with a note that they replaced a memory card and they wiped my disk clean and reloaded the software.

It worked for about a week and then the same thing happened again with the unit not booting. I then discovered that by flexing the body of the laptop it could be coaxed into booting and so I could use the laptop. For a while anyway. Then it started exhibiting the same symptoms has before. So I called in that they had me do the same tests with the same results. So now I am going to ship it back to them again.

The question, after this long winded disseration is, how do I get hp to look at this from an obvious hardware point of view and do the right repair, such as replacing the system board or the whole unit. I can see this going on until the Warrenty plays out.

Has anyone had this type of scenerio happen to them and how did you deal with it?

 

Make sure you request that whatever information you know about the problem be noted and forwarded to the logistics department so the techs that make the repair know the same thing you know.

 

Try to apply a little bit presure on the left side of the touch pad while turning it on. It has been reported many times including my DV4000. By the way, do you have x700 video and a 12-cell battery? I am trying to find out if these options are associated with the problem. Basically, the controller chip on motherboard came loose. I'll would never buy another laptop with plastic body like DV4000 again. Indeed, I just bought a Dell Vostro 1400 last week to replace the DV4000. Very solid build system with great performance and value, although it does not look as good as the newer HP ones.

 

The one big problem that I had with my dv6000z was a power issue. I would hit the power button on the laptop and the lights would flicker for a second then shut off. I knew at that point that it was the power supply that went bad. I have a decent background in computers, so I ran some tests of my own such as holding the power button down for a bit to release any charge still left in the laptop. I reseated the memory, checked the HDD connection, tried booting with only the battery and then with only the AC power adapter. Still nothing.

So I called HP and talked to technical support about this and I hate the fact that I ran all those tests myself and they made me run through them again. In the end, the person said it was the AC adapter, even though I was 100% sure it was the power supply inside the laptop. I told her that I wanted to send in my laptop instead of waiting to receive another AC adapter because I wanted to shorten the time down that I was without my laptop (because I use it for work as well). She refused, so I asked for her supervisor and eventually spoke to the manager. He was nice and actually knew what he was talking about. It was because I forced the issue and told him my reasons was why I was able to ship the laptop back instead of waiting for a part that wouldn't fix anything.

You just have to hold your position, and if the technical support agent isn't helping and the problem persists then ask to speak to the supervisor. In your case I would ask for the supervisor as soon as I called and tell him your situation and how you are having the same problem repeatedly. Supervisors can do a lot more for the customer than the support agent can, and for the most part they will do their best to make the customer happy.